Lorentz, who recovered from an upper-body injury, was a healthy scratch on Thursday for the first time in his Maple Leafs tenure.
Forward Steven Lorentz appeared to have fully recovered from an upper-body injury sustained in a 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings last week. He had been on the ice for the last couple of morning skate sessions. However, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube elected to stick with the same winning lineup that defeated the Nashville Predators and then went on to beat the New York Rangers 2-1 in overtime on Thursday.
Lorentz was unbothered by the decision.
"I mean, that's the way it goes. I was happy that we got the win. So obviously as the competitor, I want to be in the lineup every single night," Lorentz said with a smile.
Since joining the Leafs at the start of the 2024-25 season, the player had only missed games due to injury, becoming one of Berube’s most trusted players in the club’s bottom-six group of forwards.
But Lorentz understood the move.
"Chief is rolling with what he was rolling with, and we got the win in Nashville," Lorentz said. "So I'll never be upset with the coach’s decision to just keep the line going the way they are. I was the biggest cheerleader last night and glad we got the win. So when my number is called, whether it's tomorrow or if the line doesn't change, I'm just going to be ready to go.”
The Hockey News
The Hockey News
Lorentz didn't go into specifics about the hit from Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot, only calling the ailment "precautionary".
“He just kind of caught me on the button there and he kind of just shook me up a little bit,” Lorentz said.
Lorentz skated on Toronto’s fourth line at practice on Friday, strongly suggesting he will likely be back in the lineup when the club hosts the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
“Good chance we’ll get him back tomorrow,” Berube confirmed.
The 29-year-old Lorentz has two assists in two games. He signed a three-year, $4.05 million extension with the Leafs last summer after initially joining the team on a professional tryout in the summer of 2024 before signing a one-year, $775,000 contract for the following season.
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